Katie Parr, Artistic Director
Intermediate 1 & 2, Pre-Pointe, Pointe & Advanced/Company Ballet Instructor
Adult Ballet & Ballroom Instructor
Katie was raised in Nacogdoches and began taking ballet at age 5 with Maryse Gobel. With the studio, she eventually danced lead roles in Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Coppelia. Katie also attended summer dance intensives with Houston Ballet and Joffrey Texas. During her junior year in high school, she moved to Plano and then San Antonio to study dance more extensively.
From 1999 to 2001, Katie attended the Joffrey Ballet School/New School University BFA program in New York City and trained with many teachers including David Howard, John Magnus and Trinette Singleton. She performed as a soloist in Corelli Variations, Jardin Animé, and Viva Vivaldi. In 2001, she was chosen by David Howard to appear on the January cover on Dance Teacher Magazine and as one of four demonstration dancers in his instructional ballet class video.
Katie was invited to dance professionally with the Minnesota Ballet from 2001-2005. She performed principal roles in The Nutcracker, Cinderella and Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie while also performing other modern, theatrical and jazz choreography with the company.
After developing arthritis from a sustained injury, she retired from professional ballet and eventually found a new career dancing and teaching ballroom/Latin. She taught at multiple studios in New Orleans and Austin before returning to teaching ballet at the Dance Institute in Austin.
In 2008, Katie took over for her childhood instructor, Maryse Gobel, and became Artistic Director of the Gobel School of Dance (GSD).
In 2015, Heather Samuelson, now Director of the SFA Dance program, teamed up with Katie to co-found the pre-professional company Dimensions Contemporary Ballet (DCB). DCB has performed at multiple venues including the Houston Fringe Festival, Sam Houston Alumni show and the EXCHANGE Choreography Festival. The company, newly named Verve Dance, is now solely under the direction of Heather Samuelson.
During multiple summers, Katie has been invited as a counselor for the Joffrey Texas summer intensive and has enjoyed working with young pre-professional dancers, often giving them ballet technique and specific pointe shoe guidance.
From 2016-2018, Katie worked as Artistic Director for Balance Dance Studios in Austin while still maintaining her Artistic Director role at Gobel School of Dance.
She has been involved in the Nacogdoches “Dancing with the Stars” fundraiser for 8 years and is coaching 8 of the 10 couples performing this year.
Katie continues to enjoy her opportunity to bring quality dance instruction to East Texas and looks forward to bringing many new dance opportunities this year!
